Darkon
by Zaffaris
Summary: ..The hooded Forsaken merely peered down at Alcida, the undead's body language void of emotion. “Be rid of the interloper at once.”
1. Chapter 1

((A/N: this is a little blog or experiment, if you will, that i had written by request of a fellow guildmate. More for eyecandy effect on the guild forums i suppose but it was fun to write nonetheless and i hope you all enjoy it as well.))

* * *

Alcida slowed his pace and allowed the rogue to continue on. The girl was beginning to get heavy but that didn't really matter to him. More important things needed to be done before he handed her over. He missed his little red riding hood dearly.

Setting Cami down on the earthen floor he stood tall and rolled his neck and shoulders. Cami may have weighed next to nothing for him but running through the Ashenvale woodlands with her draped over his shoulders took its toll.

He looked down and grinned wolfishly at the drugged girl. Whatever it was that the rogue had given her was still in effect. Her still being out cold would take away a lot of his fun but the look on her face if she woke up would be well worth the dark paladins troubles.

Alcida knelt down and reached a hand out to caress Cami's cheek. A snap of a twig a few feet in front of him and he was back on his feet swiftly with sword drawn. "Show yourself." he growled.

A breaths moment passes then one Forsaken dressed in dark robes and an eerie hooded bone shroud flanked by two other Forsaken dressed similar to the first but with gas masks appear out from behind the forest foliage. The hooded undead extended a hand out to the elf and in a dark lingering voice spoke, "Hand the girl over."

Alcida growled again. "Why should I?" The Forsaken pointed a bony finger at him "Our master, your employer, wishes no foul ups. You are being followed. Deal with this matter at once and we will take the girl." As the creepy hooded figure spoke his compatriots in the gas masks began placing Cami's unconscious form on a stretcher.

The paladin took a step forward but before he could do or say anything further he fell to his knees in agony, clutching at the collar around his neck. Damn. He had forgotten about the 'insurance policy' placed on him.

The hooded Forsaken merely peered down at Alcida, the undead's body language void of emotion. "Be rid of the interloper at once." and without further conversation the three Forsaken, with Cami in tow, turned and disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Bellmar had a headache feeling like the second sundering, gritting his teeth he dealt with the blinding pain as he rode hard and fast through the woods.

He had came too about thirty minutes ago and even through the blistering headache it didn't take long for him to realize that Cami had been taken.. along with his money pouch. And despite having none of his armor or weapons he was hell bound to catch up. His tracking skills were next to none, but heavy foot imprints, scuffled foliage and a strand of Cami's blond hair was his bread crumb trail and he hoped by the light that this would be enough to lead him to her.

A break in the woods and Bell pulled on the reigns of his borrowed raptor mount, doing his beast to stay calm as he scanned the clearing for any signs of a trail.

A short burst of laughter caught his attention and he whirled the mount around to try and find the source. Nothing. The laughter appeared again, from the other side and he turned to face that as well. But then the maniacal laughter was all around him. Bellmar cursed. He walked into a trap.

And as if to confirm Bellmar found himself on the ground, body slammed out of the saddle and as the raptor fled the scene he rose to his feet in a defensive position, weapons or no he would take on this.. this.. himself?

Standing before the paladin was.. himself. Dressed in armor and an unpleasant smirk on his face as he casually dusted himself off. Bellmar's combat face broke as he blinked at his attacker confusedly.

"Who.. ?" Bell's mind couldn't quite grasp this concept. Then he remembered. ".. You're that doppelganger that Cami and the others-" he was cut off by his opponents amused laughter. Bellmar tilted his head to the side.. this being even sounded like him.

"And even if I am no one will be able to tell the difference if there is only one of us." he doppelganger slowly began to draw his sword. A wicked grin on his face. The real Bellmar reached for his mace but grasped only air.. he cursed again under his breath. Right. No armor. No weapons. I'm a sitting duck.

The double chuckled, "On such a rush to get on with the honeymoon and you forgot your gear? Tsk tsk tsk. O'well. I guess I'll just have to give you my thanks for making this easy for me." and with that the doppelganger lunged forward.

He was faster than he looked and Bell felt the rush of air as he barely dodged the blade. A few more attempted strikes and Bellmar was left with ducking and dodging tactics. Each nimble escape making his opponent chuckle or laugh in wicked amusement. Finally Bell saw an opening and went for it, throwing himself at the double and grappling him to the ground, tussling about in an attempt to rid his attacker of his weapon.

Straddled on top of his opponent with one hand clutched tightly around the doppelgangers's sword hand Bellmar began to repeatedly punch the mans face. Seven punches in and his magic began to fade, blips of his actual self showing until finally the doppelganger's disguise fell. Bellmar took that moment to take pause enough in his beatings to yell down at him, "Where is she!?"

The elf below him, a savage and feral looking being, snarled up at Bellmar with a grin. "You won't be her knight in shining armor today." The man shoved Bellmar up and off of him and lunged again, leaving his sword and taking up a boot knife. "and the names Alcida!" Alcida lunged at Bellmar like a swift beast. Seeing the attack Bell brought up a boot and kicked the elf over him but both fighters where on they're feet quickly, staring down one another.

Alcida bared fangs in a malicious grin. "Whats the matter? Never been trained in hand to hand combat?" he taunted him. Bellmar was trained actually, but his mind was on the sword a few steps behind him. He inched a foot back a little, reading a quick dash to retrieve the weapon. However the slight change in stance did not elude the dark paladin, his eyes glistening with an evil sense of "do it".

Bellmar dashed for the blade. Alcida charged forward.

Alcida was faster then Bell, slashing his wrist as he reached for the sword. With a yelp Bell pulled back, hand holding his bleeding wrist while trying to get out of Alcida's reach. The blade now a lost cause as the feral elf stood over it. Alcida did not let up his knife attacks however. Slashing and stabbing, forcing Bellmar to duck and dodge again, pushing him backwards in the middle of the clearing.

An odd spot in the forest floor caused Bell to temporarily loose his footing and he made an awkward step to stay on his feet but at the cost of Alcida slashing his left leg. Bellmar bit back a yelp and planted his feet this time, rearing back and crashing forward to headbutt Alcida. The feral elf leaned back and brought his shoulder in, allowing Bell's head to connect with that instead of his own noggin.

With forehead connecting to plate mail Bellmar's sundering migraine was back ten fold. White spots cluttering his vision.

Alcida smirked as Bellmar wobbled on his feet, blinking furiously to try and regain sight. With an evil chuckle Alcida reached out and grabbed Bell by the back his jaw and neck, lifting him up slightly and bringing him close enough to speak and be heard over Bell's pained fast breathing. "The fun's just beginning."

Bell grabbed at Alcida's arm as he felt his head being turned, his vision returning just in time to see the knife methodically approach his right eye. He screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

Blood covered Bell's face, hands, arms and even soaked his shirt. His wounded attempts to protect himself were beginning to slow as the results of blood loss started to take into effect. The feeling of defeat and failure washing over him, further making the effort of fighting back seem pointless. Where was Cami? He wanted to hold her, to have her in his arms and hear her tell him everything was going to be alright. He was beginning to loose consciousness. His world going black with the sound of that damned elf's wicked laughter ringing in his head.

Alcida looked on with sadistic glee as Bellmar finally ceased moving. The dark elf looked at his bloodied dagger then down at the perfect green orb that he had freed from the paladins skull. A malicious grin spread across his lips as he pondered the thought of either keeping it, stepping on it or leaving it out in the open for the wildlife to feast upon. The latter was seeming more and more boring, the first becoming a possibility and the second more appealing.

At the same time as Alcida raised his foot a stream of arcane bolts came from the tree line to hit him square in the back, knocking him flat on his face and winding him slightly.

"What the-?" Alcida growled as he sat up in an animal like defensive stance.

A heavily cloaked figure in elegant purple and blue robes stepped into the clearing and judging by how the folds of cloth hung to the slender figure along with the rich lavender perfume that tickled his nose Alcida could tell it was obviously a woman.

"You dare interfere?" he growled again as he slowly stood up, tightening his grip on the dagger.

The cloaked woman stopped but a few arms length away from the feral looking elf, her ruby lips the only visible part of her face. "I can not allow you to kill him." The woman inclined her head, face still encased in shadow but a lock of white hair found its way out of her hood and fell down across her chest.

Alcida's ears twitched and he snarled at the woman, eyes glaring in recognition at that stray strand of white. "Did _he_ send you to stop me?" there was much emphasis on the word 'He'.

The woman showed no emotion as she merely waved a hand instead of replying, and with a small poof of smoke and tiny yelp Alcida found himself on the ground.. as a turtle. The woman bent down and picked up the Alcida-turtle, stroking his shell as she spoke, "As a matter of fact, dear Darklore.. no. I am acting of my own accord and even you should know where my intentions lie." the woman smirked slightly as the Alcida-turtle retracted his head into his shell as she went to flick the polymorphed paladin's nose.

The woman stuffed the turtled paladin into a leather satchel underneath her robes and then knelt down beside the unconscious Bellmar, stroking his black hair and shoulders fondly. "Oh Bell..." she said softly. She turned her head and looked down at the green eye that stared up at her from the ground.

Carefully she picked up the green orb and held it in the palm of her hand, lovingly removing any bits of grass and dirt from its wide gaze. She looked down at Bellmar before gently rubbing his shoulders once more. "Don't worry my love, I'll find you help. You will not die just yet."

Quickly the woman stood up, tracing the air with one finger and drawing out magical symbols. She never liked being tracked. Once the glyphs where in place and set, she briskly walked to the edge of the clearing and blinked away.

-----------------

Khamal Ringhorn, Tauren warrior of the Ashenvale Long Patrol, was on a routine scouting mission with three others from his unit, two of them new recruits. He and the others with him walked by the roadside heading west when a cloaked woman stepped from behind a tree in front of them. Khamal brought his group to a halt.

"Hail." he said with a nod towards the woman, hands held at his side in case he needed to draw his axe.

The woman nodded at the tauren and pointed off into the trees to the right of them. "There is an elf in need of medical attention. Go swiftly. His wounds are grave."

Khamal looked off towards where she was pointing and waved his scouts in that direction. When he looked back the woman was gone. His golden eyes scanned the trees momentarily but with a snort he hoofed his way through the woods to join his scouts.

It did not take long for him and the others to reach the clearing and, spotting the fallen Bellmar, rush to his side.

Khamal pointed at the two recruits, both young orc shamans. "Med kits. Now." Immediately the two dropped their packs and pulled out rolls of gauze, healing ointments and heavy bandages, setting to work at wrapping the worst of wounds first, starting with Bell's head.

The other seasoned scout, an orc hunter by the name of Tantuluka, scanned the edge of the clearing, his pet pig sniffing the ground around the group. "Obvious signs of a scuffle 'round the whole clearing, blood spots begin over there. Looks like he crawled ta where he is now." He said in his thick voice as he pointed out various spots to Khamal, the orcs eyes still searching for more clues. "Think that woman had somethin' ta do with this?"

Khamal merely shook his head slowly as he too looked around the clearing, occasionally watching the recruits make progress at tending to the fallen elf's wounds. "No.. there is much blood on him and around here and there was none on her.." the tauren lightly fingered his large nose ring in thought. "Although I'm sure she knows exactly what happened here." Khamal reached into a side pouch and pulled out a small mechanical cricket. He lightly touched the things back, listening to it as it made a whirring noise but frowned when the tiny device did nothing else. With a snort he placed the cricket back into his pouch. "No sign of any magic either." He said.

"Almost done boss. We also found this beside him." One of the scouts held up a pairing knife and handed it to Tantuluka, "Good enough guess that thats what caused just about all of this poor souls wounds, he's got no eye either."

Both Tantuluka and Khamal looked over the knife then down at the elf whom the two scouts were now placing on a makeshift stretcher. Khamal wrapped the knife in a cloth and then placed it into his sack. Turning to Tantuluka he spoke, "Have Ramtusk search the clearing for this elf's missing eye. If we find it we might be able to give it to Advisor Sunsworn and hopefully find out who did this. Mack your way back to camp in thirty minutes if you are unsuccessful." The orc hunter nodded and whistled at his pig, hunter and pet beginning their search. Khamal nodded and lead the two recruits, Bellmar in tow, out of the clearing.


End file.
